Skip to main content

3D Repo develop virtual reality safety app for Balfour Beatty

3D Repo is working with contractors Balfour Beatty and Vinci and the UK roads agency Highways England to deploy a virtual reality simulation program for safety training. 3D Repo, a spin-off from University College London, develops open-source software for building information modelling in the cloud. More than 40 different 3D file formats are decomposed and federated in the company’s big data repository.
April 18, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
Seeing is believing, and staying healthy: 3D Repo’s construction site simulation
3D Repo is working with contractors Balfour Beatty and 5177 Vinci and the UK roads agency 8100 Highways England to deploy a virtual reality simulation program for safety training


3D Repo, a spin-off from University College London, develops open-source software for building information modelling in the cloud. More than 40 different 3D file formats are decomposed and federated in the company’s big data repository.

The simulated program - part of the UK’s Smart Motorway programme – is a fully immersive simulation to prevent on-site accidents by making highways construction and maintenance projects safer through improved training. It features real world scenarios while the virtual experience gives users different perspectives of the same potentially dangerous situation in order to develop an understanding of safe working zones.  

“In order to demonstrate our understanding of our customers’ needs and facilitate the collaboration between our customers and their clients, we wanted to digitally transform our approach,” commented

Neil Thompson, head of digital research at 1146 Balfour Beatty, said that using a standard visual reality headset, the 3D Repo simulation provides multiple views of different scenarios. The user is immersed in a position relative to an activity, for example bank excavation, so they can examine both the worker’s as well as the plant driver’s visibility. The user can then position themselves where they think they are safe and switch to the plant operator’s position to understand what they would see.

All this is done within the safety of an office or training room and without the need for lengthy manuals, training sessions or specialist personnel. As the scenarios are hosted online, the system can be set up easily from any location and can be deployed across numerous sites at the same time.

“Upon login, users can access all their projects remotely on the fly and without the need to create custom executables each time,” said Jozef Dobos, chief executive of 3D Repo. “We also utilise existing site-specific 3D models and building information modelling (BIM) data so that custom scenarios can be created and uploaded as and when needed.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Topcon and Bentley training event
    April 12, 2018
    Topcon Positioning Group and Bentley Systems has run the first in its collaborative Constructioneering Academy initiatives The first session was held recently in Livermore, California. The two firms have joined efforts to provide opportunities designed to allow construction industry professionals to learn best practices in constructioneering, a process of managing and integrating survey, engineering, and construction data, to streamline construction workflows and improve project delivery. This approach
  • Topcon and DAQRI co-developing new safety technology
    December 2, 2015
    Topcon Positioning is establishing a collaboration with DAQRI to develop wearable safety technology for use on construction sites. The two firms will work together to develop technology that will boost safety for site personnel through the use of augmented reality systems. DAQRI is a leader in enterprise augmented reality and developed the Smart Helmet, an industrial-grade unit that seamlessly connects personnel to work environments by providing information about the surroundings.
  • Fast laser scanning from Hexagon
    June 19, 2023
    Hexagon says that its next-generation Leica BLK360 laser scanner offers precise and accurate scanning operations.
  • British Tunnelling Society conference: digging deep for data
    December 13, 2016
    Tunnelling innovation is creating mountains of data for contractors and designers, delegates to a recent British Tunnelling Society (BTS) conference heard Successful innovation in tunnelling techniques and technologies is creating more and more data, thanks to digitalisation.